Shikamaru's Sorano
by SnowTigerShelby
Summary: Shikamaru's getting married? And to Gaara's little sister! Things could either get better and ties could form between two villages and two families, or things could get really ugly and...well let's just leave it at that, shall we? ShikaOCC NejiOCC GaaSaku
1. Chapter 1

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Sabaku no Sorano.

Younger sister of the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara.

She knew it was probably something she should probably be proud of, what with all the privileges that came with it. Less missions, people's respect, etc.

But sometimes, she just wished she was a normal girl. She got tired of having to help Gaara with paperwork like a secretary, and constantly being nagged by the elders to do speeches for him, seeing as he rarely uttered a word.

But those were petty things. She could deal with that. It was annoying, but tolerable.

However, what wasn't tolerable was the situation she was in currently.

Sorano looked at her three older siblings in shock. They were kidding right? They couldn't possible be serious.

The four sand siblings were having a meeting in the Kazekage's office, Gaara sitting behind his desk and staring at his younger sister intensely, daring her to object to what he'd previously said.

"Gaara, you can't possibly expect me to go through with this, can you?" the blue-haired beauty asked.

Sighing, Gaara sat back in his chair. He knew that she would have a problem with this. What average person wouldn't? Especially someone with the same blood running through their veins as him. The Sand siblings absolutely hated being forced to do anything. So he felt a little guilty for forcing his sister to do this. But he didn't have much choice. His other siblings weren't going to cooperate whatsoever, and the alliance would last longer with her, seeing as she would most likely live longer.

"Sorano, you know your duty to this country is very important. Almost as important as mine. But I can't have Temari do it because she's already getting married in about a year, and Kankuro would simply weaken the alliance and cause war."

Kankuro turned and glared at his younger brother, but the red-head paid no attention to it.

Sighing, Sorano looked at her lap. She understood that it was a big responsibility that he wouldn't entrust to just anyone, but still. It wasn't fair. Looking up at her older brother, she saw him staring at her with both authority and sympathy.

She opened her mouth once more in question, "Well why can't you do it? I mean, you're the Kazekage! Who better to form an alliance with than the Kazekage himself?"

He raised a non-existent brow as if asking whether she was serious or not.

She knew he'd have a reaction like that. Gaara. Married. That was a laugh. Geez, why couldn't Suna have some dumb law like _"To continue being Kazakage, you must wed at so-and-so age."_

She snorted at the thought. He'd give up being Kazekage in a heart beat.

"Do you find something funny?" Gaara spoke.

Shaking her head, Sorano looked over to her other two siblings for help. Temari looked at her with sympathy also, and Kankuro simply looked down.

Finally giving in, she looked at Gaara once more.

"When do we leave?"

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	2. Chapter 2

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Sorano sat on her bed, looking around at her room. She was really going to miss it here.

Suna. Her home.

Sighing, she picked up her pack and walked out of her room and towards the front door, where her three siblings were waiting.

They would help her through her travels and stay until she finally married in about three to four months.

But after that, they would be gone.

It made her want to cry a little, knowing that how much they'd gone through would soon be left behind.

Turning, she looked back into the house once more. She wasn't going to cry though. She was the Gaara's little sister. She was a sixteen year old Jounin. She was stronger than that.

She turned once more and left the house, heard Temari lock the door, and then began her journey with her siblings towards her new home.

Konoha.

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Nara Shikamaru.

Lazy-ass, eighteen year old Jounin.

I.Q. of over 200.

Standing in the Hokage's office in shock.

She had chose him? Out of all the bachelors in all of Konoha, it just had to be him.

And to her? Sure, he'd never met her, but he knew enough about her to know that it would be a huge responsibility. The younger sibling of the Kazekage.

The husband of the younger sibling of the Kazkage.

That's a pretty big title.

If she ever got hurt, it would probably be his head. Heck, if she ever got hurt, there would probably be war between Suna and Konoha. Even if it wasn't his fault, it's still his responsibility to watch over her and protect her.

Women were just so troublesome.

Tsunade opened her mouth and continued speaking while looking through some papers. "They should be here by tomorrow morning if everything goes well during their travels. Please bring her to my office when they get here. I'd like to have a word with the two of you together. And she is not aware of whom she is to marry, so I'll leave that up to you to tell her. And she's never been in the Fire Country so she's probably not going to be used to the climate, and may get lost once or twice while here in Konoha. Please escort her during her stay here. It would be a good idea to get to know your spouse before the big day, right?"

Shikamaru had kept his mouth shut the entire time she'd gone over the details of the alliance. She'd even given him a folder, which he was currently going through now, telling him about her basic information: height, weight, allergies, etc.

He didn't want to object to anything she had to say, knowing she would win anyways.

And he never really cared about women much anyways, so it wasn't that big of a deal to him that he'd be getting married.

But he was shocked and scared for his life, seeing who exactly it was he was marrying.

He'd be mature and calm about it though. He would treat it like a mission, knowing full well that that was probably what the girl would be doing also. What sane girl would just up and agree to an arranged marriage for no reason? No. She had to be looking it professionally. Nothing personal. Only a mission.

But what could result exactly from this "mission"? Did they expect offspring? Because if they were, they would be highly disappointed. Him plus children was not a very good combination.

He vaguely heard the Hokage dismiss him, so he stood up to leave, but before he could turn the knob to the door, he heard from behind him. "And don't piss her off. She has a temper as bad as that of Sakura's. And if that doesn't scare you enough, don't forget, she's the younger sibling of one of the most powerful men in the five great shinobi nations."

Shikamaru gulped before opening the door and closing it behind him as he left. Sighing, Tsunade looked up from the papers to make sure he was gone before slouching back in her chair in exasperation. She didn't want to do this to him, but she couldn't help it. He was the best representative for Konoha next to Kakashi. And she doubted the silver-haired man would be as cooperative.

She stood and walked around her chair to look out the window. She could see the entire village. It was beautiful. And to think, it would be on the brink of war if not for this alliance. She was truly in Shikamaru's debt. The entire village was.

She then heard a knock at her door and sat back down in her chair, getting back to her paperwork while saying, "Come in."

The door opened revealing pink hair, green eyes, and a red outfit.

"Ahh. Sakura. There you are."

"Hai sensei. Was there something you needed?"

Tsunade gestured for her to close the door and stand closer to her desk. After seeing that she did what was asked, she continued, "I just recently spoke with Shikamaru about the alliance. They should be here by tomorrow morning. Please accompany him to greet them at the village gates. I'd like to speak with Shikamaru and Sorano-san personally, so he will bring her here in the morning. But could you escort the other three to their temporary home?"

Nodding, Sakura watched as the Hokage scribbled an address on a piece of paper before handing it to her. Sakura bowed in respect before turning and leaving the office.

Tsunade sighed and relaxed once more. Reaching down, she opened a drawer on the side of her desk. She pulled out a glass and a bottle of sake.

She just hoped that Nozomi would behave...

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Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Sorano had been traveling all day and were currently setting up their sleeping bags to camp for the night. Well, everyone but Gaara, He was always lookout on missions that took longer than a day. Sure he no longer had the Shukaku sealed within him and could sleep peacefully now, but he was still used to staying up all the time. He slept once in a while, but usually liked to simply stay up and think quietly.

Sorano looked up at him, sitting in a tree, looking straight. He really was a good brother. He was protective over her in his own way. Which is why it really surprised her when he had chosen her as the one to marry.

Gaara had always acted cold towards her and her siblings growing up. And she always thought that he absolutely hated them. But she later learned that compared to how he treated everyone else, they got the nice side of him.

Looking over to her other siblings, she watched as they started getting settled into their sleeping bags. Not exactly tired yet, she went over to the tree and began climbing it to the limb her brother was perched on.

Garra shifted his eyes when he noticed she had finally reached the level he was at. "What do you want Sorano?"

Rolling her eyes at his coldness, she made her way over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him. "I can't come up here and just spend time with my brother?"

Gaara looked down and noticed that his older siblings were already asleep, making him relax. Looking back at his younger sister, he rolled his eyes. "You're a brat, you know that?"

Sorano smiled. There he was. The older brother she knew and loved. Not the uptight Kazekage that was always serious and boring. And she was the only one who ever got to see this side of him. It made her somewhat happy. It was like a secret they shared.

Sorano leaned on her brothers shoulder, feeling him shift so she was more comfortable. "Do I _have_ to get married?"

Gaara stayed quiet for a moment before answering, "You know the answer to that. Stop asking."

Sighing, she replied, "It can't hurt to try."

"Hn."

Typical. His absolute favorite word in all the world. 'Hn.' No definition. No right or wrong spelling. Just 'hn'.

Sorano closed her eyes and got more comfortable. She didn't feel like going back down the tree and getting into her sleeping bag. Besides, she knew he would eventually put her there himself whenever she finally dozed off.

She loved her family. They didn't need parents to watch over them. They were perfectly capable on their own. They had each other. That was all that mattered.

But in a matter of a few months, that would all change. They would no longer be the four Sand siblings. Temari was getting married. Gaara was Kazekage. Kankuro was joining ANBU.

And she was joining two great countries together by marrying into Konoha.

Yep. Being the Kazekage's sister was great. Just a lot of work.

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	3. Chapter 3

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**Shikamaru yawned as he leaned against the village gates with Sakura. They had gotten there pretty early, not really knowing exactly what time their guests would be arriving that morning.

And in all honesty, he was pretty nervous. Not so much about meeting the woman he'd be stuck with for the rest of his life. But to how she would react to him. Would she accept him? Would she turn him down? Would she even have any reaction at all?

Sighing he simply continued to look through the gates, waiting to feel chakra signatures coming their way. He vaguely heard Sakura giggled and shifted his eyes to see what she had found so amusing.

Sakura smiled at her friend. "Calm down Shikamaru. There's no need to be so nervous."

Shikamaru scoffed. "I am calm. And what makes you think that I'm nervous?"

Sakura smirked and gestured to his shaking right leg. "It hasn't stayed still the entire time we've been here."

Blushing slightly, Shikamaru willed his leg to stop moving. Geez, why was he getting so worked up and worried. Dare-say-it scared.

But he was never afraid of anything. Even his own mother, which was something worthy of being scared of.

As a matter of fact, he hadn't been this scared since...

No. He closed his eyes. He wasn't going to think about that. Not right now. He'd cried all the tears he could that day. There would none left to shed. Asuma was gone. There was nothing he could do about it.

He then felt four chakra signatures nearing the village. Opening his eyes, he saw four blurry figures heading towards him and Sakura. Once carried a large gourd, one carried a a puppet, and the third had an over-sized fan.

But the fourth one carried nothing, although the dark blue hair caught his attention immediately.

It took another minute before the group had finally stopped right in front of him and Sakura.

He was finally able to take in his future-wife's appearance.

She wore a strapless purple shirt that stopped a few inches above her bellybutton. It was rimmed with a thin line of orange. She also worse bindings that went from her angles up to her hips, where they met a long skirt that look similar to Sakura's when they were Genin. Only it was the same color as her top and was rimmed the same way.

Her sandals and gloves were black and her detached sleeves matched her outfit.

Her eyes were a light blue like the file he'd been given had said, and they were bordered with long, seductive lashes and a little black eyeliner.

Other than that, she wore no make-up. She was purely beautiful. All natural. And he admired her for that. Unlike Ino, who practically bathed in the stuff. Lipstick to blush to eyeshadow. It was such a turn off for him, knowing how fake she looked.

But this girl was truly beautiful.

Sorano blushed as she felt his gaze on her, but she kept her own gaze on her brother, who had his own gaze on the pink-haired girl that was also standing there to greet them.

Why was this man looking at her? And why was Gaara staring at the girl? And...was that a blush on his face?

She looked over to the woman that had caught his attention and noticed that she had smiled at him and walked closer while saying, "Hey guys! I haven't seen you in what seems like forever."

She then averted her green eyes to Temari who reached over for a hug. She then hugged Kankuro, who spun her around in excitement. "Sakura! It's been way too long! Wow, you look great."

Sakura blushed at the compliment and thanked him before turning to Gaara, making him nervous. "Kazekage-sama." she said politely before bowing in respect.

Gaara then became irritated. But he tried his best to hide it. He did however mutter, "Gaara."

Sakura looked up and asked, "I beg your pardon?"

Gaara crossed his arms. "My name's Gaara. Kazakage-sama makes me sound old."

Sakura nodded and replied, "Gomen. I'll be sure to remember that from now on."

Gaara nodded and turned towards Shikamaru, nodding. "Nara-san."

Shikamaru turned his attention away from the blue-haired girl to look at the Kazekage. He used to be so short and small when they Genin. Now, he was almost his height, and seemed very intimidating at the moment.

Apparently, just because Sorano didn't know that she was marrying him, it didn't mean that he didn't.

"Gaara-san."

Gaara glared. "That's Kazekage-sama to you."

Shikamaru gulped and corrected himself. "H-hai. I meant Kazekage-sama." He then bowed respectfully, not wanting to look into his eyes.

Yep. _Very _intimidating.

Gaara continued to glare at the man in front of him. Sorano stared at him in confusion while Temari shook her head and Kankuro tried to keep himself from laughing.

Sakura was extremely confused at this point, but simply shrugged it off and continued talking. "Well, Tsunade-sama would like to have a word privately with Sorano, so Shikamaru will escort her to the Hokage's office while I show you to your temporary home."

The Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro nodded in understanding before following her in the direction of their new home.

But while passing Shikamaru, Gaara whispered something in his ear, causing him go pale and his eyes to widen.

Sorano didn't notice this as she stared down at her feet in embarrassment. She was standing in a strange village, with a strange man.

_I mean, look at his head! He's a frickin' walking pineapple for Kami-sama's sake!_

Sighing, she looked back up at her escort, only to find him in complete and utter shock. Confused, she walked closer to him and began waving a hand in front of his face.

_Oh, what was his name again? Shinakaru? Shiramaku? Oh yeah! It's-_

"Shimaraku-san? Are you ok?"

Shikamaru came back to reality when he heard his name being called. Or at least, what sounded like his name anyways. "H-huh?" He stared down to see that Sorano and gotten closer to him, trying to get his attention. Well she had his attention now. But what had she called him?

"What did you say my name was?"

Sorano blinked and repeated, "Shimaraku-san. Right?"

Shikamaru had to bite back a smile. She was actually kind of cute. He watched as a pretty blush spread across her cheeks as he looked her in the eyes.

"Close. My name is Shikamaru Nara. It's nice to meet you." He held out a hand to her.

Sorano stared at the hand for a moment before smiling and replying, "Sabaku no Sorano. Nice to meet you too."

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	4. Chapter 4

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**Sakura guided the three Sand siblings towards the address she had been given the previous day by Tsunade. Once they arrived to their destination, Gaara looked at it in approval. It was a nice little house. Big enough for four people, but not too big. One story, probably two bathrooms and four bedrooms.

Once inside, Temari automatically went for the kitchen while Kankuro ran into the hallway, wanting to claim 'his room' first. But he avoided the master bedroom, knowing Gaara would kick him out of it in a heartbeat.

Sighing, Gaara turned towards Sakura and spoke, "Please excuse them. They were dropped as babies."

Sakura covered her mouth and giggled, making an unknown emotion stir within Gaara. He then felt his heart skip a beat when she looked up into his eyes. "I didn't think you knew how to joke around."

Gaara stared at her in confusion. "Who said I was joking?"

Sakura giggled once more and shook her head. "Anyways, I hope you find it comfortable here. If you have any complaints, please come to me and I'll see what I can do."

Gaara nodded and watched as she turned to open the door and leave. Not wanting her to go so soon, he put his hand on her shoulder, making her turn to see what he wanted.

His mouth opened to say something, but closed once more when he realized that he had nothing to say. He thought for a moment before smiling to himself.

Taking a step closer to her, he whispered in her ear, "You know, you hugged Temari and Kankuro, but you forgot about someone."

Sakura blushed slightly at the closeness, and felt her cheeks get even warmer at what he had said. Not one to be swayed, she turned to whisper back in his ear, "You're right. I did forget someone..."

Gaara smirked and leaned back, waiting for his hug. But he was shocked when she opened the door and continued, "I never hugged Sorano-san! I need to go find her now."

Gaara's jaw dropped as she closed the door behind her and heard her giggling begin to fade behind it as she walked away.

He stood there for a few minutes in shock. _Oh hell no. _He then opened the door and began chasing after her, loving the sound of her joyous laughter from being chased.

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This was so awkward. He had completely forgotten to mention to her that he was her future spouse, and now things were super awkward.

Shikamaru and Sorano stood in the Hokage's office, one staring at the other in shock, and the other trying his best to keep his eyes averted from her.

Tsunade watched in amusement. Shikamaru looked scared as hell, while Sorano looked...well, shocked.

_This is the guy I'm supposed to marry? This walking piece of fruit? But why didn't he tell us on the way here?_

Tsunade cleared her throat to get Sorano's attention. Sorano looked to the Hokage, still with a shocked expression.

Tsunade spoke, "Anyways, like I said, now that you've met your future partner, we can get down to business." She turned to look at Shikamaru. "During her stay here, you are to make her feel as comfortable and at home as possible. But first, I'd like to assign you two a small mission."

Sorano's jaw almost dropped. Her first day in Konoha, and she was already receiving missions.

Shikamaru automatically went into professional mode, "What mission would that be?"

Tsunade went through a small pile of papers before finding what she needed and handing it to him. "It's not so much of a mission as it is a vacation..."

Shikamaru went over the contents of this 'mission' and sweat dropped.

**Rank: **D

**Party: **Nara Shikamaru - Sabaku no Sorano - Hyuuga Neji - Nara Nozomi

**Purpose: **Get to know one another

**Place: **Kika Island

**Time Duration: **Two weeks

**Payment: **10,000 yen each

**Captain:** Hyuuga Neji

And at the bottom of the mission information, she scribbled her signature, making it legit.

Shikamaru looked back up to the Hokage, confused, and asked, "So, we're basically getting paid to take a vacation together?"

Tsunade nodded and smiled slightly. "That's right."

Sorano was handed the paper next and after scanning over it, she asked, "Who are these other two? And why are they coming along if it's only D rank?"

Shikamaru had also been wondering the same thing. Especially about Nozomi.

_Lord help me get through this mission...We haven't been put on the same mission in about a year._

Tsunade explained, "Well Hyuuga Neji is a Jounin that just got back from an A-ranked mission yesterday. I felt that he needed a break, so I decided to send him on this little vacation. Besides, Shikamaru and him seem to be good friends and get along well." She then cleared her throat and closed her eyes, "As for Nozomi-san...well-"

Suddenly there was a lot of banging and crashing outside the office door, making the three shinobi turn towards it in confusion.

"Shut the hell up Naruto, it was mine first and you know it!"

"Like hell it was! Never stand between me and my ramen unless you can face the consequences!"

"Oh yeah? Alright then! Let's do it! Right here, right now!"

"Alright then! Rasengan!"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP! Tsunade is still probably prompting them on the mission!"

There was more crashing and arguing before the same deep voice yelled, "That's it! Eight trigram, 64 Palms!"

A little more crashing and banging before everything was silent once more.

Tsunade sighed and waited a few seconds, knowing there would be a knock at the door in about 3...2...1...

There were three even knocks at the office door.

Tsunade muttered for them to come in and had to hold back her irritation when she watched Neji carry an unconscious girl in on his shoulder and drag a just as unconscious Naruto by the hair behind him.

After dropping the boy onto the ground, he shifted his arms so he could hold the girl properly in his arms, while kicking the door closed with his foot.

"I am extremely sorry for the noise. Naruto had ordered five dozen bowls of ramen and Nozomi was there and...well the rest really isn't important, but anyways, he followed Nozomi and me here for the prompting of this mission. Again I am very sorry."

He then bowed in respect, ending his apology.

Tsunade waved it off and leaned back in her chair. As long as Naruto kept his mouth closed, she didn't care. As for the girl, who Sorano soon recognized as Nozomi, it would be easier if she was awake through the prompting, seeing as she would also be involved in the mission.

Oh well. Shikamaru would probably inform her of the details later on. She then explained to Neji everything she had said to Sorano and Shikamaru, knowing he would not question her about it, even if it confused him a little.

They all then learned that Nozomi would only be going so that Sorano would be able to get to know her future sister-in-law.

But Shikamaru knew the real reasoning behind his younger sister tagging along. Neji had always secretly admired her for her care-free personality and her will-power that rivaled that of Naruto's. Shikamaru was one of the few people who recognized this and reveled in the fact that he was the only one that knew about his sister's reciprocated feelings.

He listened as Tsunade ended the prompting with a few last, unimportant side notes. When they were dismissed, they all stepped over Naruto and began to walk out the door, but when Sorano reached the door, she stopped and turned to take one last glance at the blond boy on the ground.

"Shouldn't someone get him?" She asked no one in particular.

Tsunade waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Naruto'll eventually wake up. And I'd like to have a word privately with him when he does."

Sorano shivered at the evil look she was beginning to get.

She quickly nodded in understanding before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Sighing in relief, Sorano relaxed and looked up to her three teammates for this 'mission'. She blushed slightly when she found the two boys staring at her. So these other two were Hyuuga Neji and Nara Nozomi. And according to Tsunade, the girl was Shikamaru's younger sister.

She had curly, long, dark-brown hair that reached her lower back and a Chuunin vest over a black sleeveless shirt. She also wore khaki capris and black sandals.

From the little show that her and this Naruto-guy put on earlier, she guessed that she was very hyper and care-free.

As for Neji Hyuuga, he seemed to be quite the opposite. He was very quiet, calm, and polite. She admired that.

Shikamaru finally broke the awkward silence that lingered between the group. He cleared his throat before opening his mouth, "So, here's the thing. We leave tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock, so get plenty of rest. We'll stop at an inn halfway there in a small village. Then we'll finish the rest of the trip the next day. From what she told us, there should already be a small house waiting for us there, with four separate bedrooms and two bathrooms. So there should be plenty of space for four people to have their own privacy."

The group listened as he reviewed the details they had previously been given, as a reminder.

Sorano stared at him in confusion. Wasn't Neji the captain? So why was Shikamaru going over all of this?

Oh well. It wasn't technically a mission anyways. Tsunade had constantly considered it as a small vacation, meant for them to get to know each other.

She just wondered how Gaara would react to this. She'd never been out of his sight for longer than about a week. And that was about three or four years ago when he had been captured by the akatsuki.

Shaking her head, she decided that she would deal with him later. For right now, she was slightly angry. At pineapple man.

She watched as Neji handed Nozomi over to her older brother and said his goodbyes before leaving. Once she saw that he was no longer in sight, she turned to glare at Shikamaru, making him slightly nervous.

She knew now.

He was in for it.

"So...When were you planning on telling me that you were my groom-to-be?"

Sighing, he turned to look back at the girl. He knew he should have told her the moment he met her at the gates, but he just couldn't bring himself to. And it was for this exact reason.

He didn't want to see her reaction.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have probably been the one to tell you. But I just couldn't."

Sorano raised a brow and crossed her arms. "And why is that?"

Shikamaru racked his brain to try and find a decent answer. He couldn't tell her that it was because he was actually 'scared' of her.

So what should he say?

"I, uh...forgot."

Sorano wanted to hit him now. "Oh I see. You forgot. You completely forgot to tell the girl you'd be spending the rest of your life with, that you'd be the one spending the rest of your life with her. Yep. I totally understand now."

She huffed and turned away, muttering under her breath about stupid pineapple-headed men. Shikamaru had to bite back a smile at this. Well she was angry, but not at the fact that she'd be marrying him. But the fact that he hadn't told her. That was an up-side, right?

Sighing once more, he walked up to her and said, "Look, I'm sorry I hadn't told you. It was rude of me."

Sorano shifted her eyes to give him a side-ways glance. Well, he was cute. And he seemed pretty nice. He wasn't that bad of a guy after all. She could probably tolerate spending the rest of her days with him.

As long as he didn't get on her nerves too much.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm herself. She was probably just irritable from the long trip and getting no sleep yet.

"No, I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's not your fault we're in this mess. You were probably forced into this too, right?" She opened one eye and saw him nod his head before closing it again. "Just as I thought. Well, you must be a pretty good shinobi for them to have picked you out of all of the men in the village, so I guess you're on my good side...for now."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her small threat added on at the end. She seemed like a pretty nice girl herself. She didn't seem shy, but she wasn't as flamboyant as that of his sister or Naruto. She also seemed very professional, unlike his sister and Naruto.

Basically...she was the complete opposite of his sister and Naruto. And that was all that mattered. If she was anything like them, he would probably end up hanging himself the day before the marriage.

The two walked out of the Hokage building and stopped before turning to look at each other.

So this was it. They had met. So now what?

Sorano turned her head to look behind Shikamaru. Confused, he turned to see what she was looking at, and automatically panicked.

He quickly stepped out of the way, along with Sorano, as he watched a pink blob coming their way fast, along with a red blob following close behind.

They quickly zoomed past them and just kept going until they disappeared in dust. Sorano and Shikamaru began coughing, trying to get the dust out of their lungs.

_Was that Gaara chasing that girl from earlier?_

Sorano quickly got rid of that thought, knowing it was impossible. Gaara would _never _chase a girl. It was simply unreal.

Waving off the strange incident that had happened, she turned to look at her fiance once more.

Fiance. It was such a foreign word to her. Especially knowing it was _her _fiance.

Shikamaru noticed her gaze and quickly tried to break the awkwardness, "So, I guess I'll see you in the morning? You should probably go to sleep soon, seeing as you just arrived from a long mission. You should replenish your chakra tonight before traveling again tomorrow."

Sorano nodded and looked at the girl in his arms. "Will she be ok?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru looked down at his sister in his arms and shook his head in shame. "Yeah. She'll be fine. Trust me. But let me warn you. She's gonna be a handful while on this mission. But Neji and I will try our best to keep her in place."

Sorano nodded once more and replied, "Well alright then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good day Nara-san."

She was about to turn to walk away, but was stopped when she heard him speak once more. "Call me Shikamaru."

Sorano looked over her shoulder at the man behind her. She smiled slightly at his kindness. "You got it...Shimaraku-san..."

She then stuck her tongue out in a playful way before turning back around and walking in the opposite direction.

Shikamaru stared at her back for a moment before smiling to himself.

Yeah. She was pretty cute.

For a girl.

* * *

**SnowTigerShelby has signed out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**SnowTigerShelby had signed in.**

**

* * *

**Sorano opened the door to her new home and walked in before closing it once more behind her. She then plopped onto a nearby couch and looked around the room.

_When did we get furniture?_

As she looked around, she noticed a couple of chairs on the opposite side of a coffee table in front of the couch she was laying on. She also saw a tall bookcase against a nearby wall. It was empty now, but she new that as the house was lived in, it would gradually be filled.

Sorano then closed her eyes and relaxed back into the couch. She couldn't since Gaara's chakra anywhere in the house, so she figured he was out for a bit.

But how was she going to tell him? Knowing him, he'd probably walk straight down to the Hokage's office and demand to go along.

Geez, she hated when he got all over-protective-brother on her.

Sighing, she realized that someone else had just entered the room and opened her eyes to see Kankuro leaning against the wall across the room. And...was he smirking at her?

Annoyed, she sat up and looked over to her brother. What did he want?

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Kankuro shook his head and walked over to his younger sister.

"So, did you meet him yet?"

Sorano rolled her eyes. "Yeah. You'll never believe who it was..."

Kankuro raised his eyebrow before she continued, "Shikamaru Nara. The guy that met us at the gates."

Kankuro's eyes widened a bit before he began chuckling. "Oh wow. That's the same little twerp that beat Temari in the Chunin exams years ago."

Sorano looked up at her brother in shock. _What? _He _beat Temari? There's just no way._

He seemed too lazy and laid back to be anywhere near as strong as Temari. Let alone be stronger.

Wow. There were apparently things that she really didn't know about him.

Kankuro looked down at his sister, noticing that she was lost in thought. She really didn't seem too against who she was going to be marrying. And he knew Nara. He was a good guy. He trusted him.

But as for Gaara, that was a totally different story.

Deciding to break the silence, he cleared his throat before speaking again. "So, what did the Hokage want to see you about?"

Sorano looked up to her brother. "Well, she also wanted to see Shikamaru. We were assigned to our first mission together today, along with two other Shinobi of the leaf. Hyuuga Neji and Nara Nozomi."

Kankuro stared at his sister in confusion. "Nara? So she's related to Shikamaru somehow?"

Sorano nodded her head. "Yep. She's apparently his younger sister. She looked my age."

Kankuro nodded his head before getting confused once more. "Wait. Hyuuga and Nara are Jounin. And if you're sending a third person to go along with you, then it must be a serious mission. How long will you be gone for and what's it about?"

Sorano noticed that he was going into his brother-mode, which was rare and not nearly as bad as Gaara got, but she knew that he was serious and that it was no act.

"We're going to be staying on Kika Island for about a two weeks time period. We'll be staying at an inn half-way on the way there and on the way back." She watched as Kankuro's eyes widened slightly at the new found information. She continued, "Don't worry. It's a D-rank mission, so there shouldn't be much danger."

At this Kankuro looked completely dumbfounded. A D-rank mission including at least 3 Jounin. And it would take two weeks to complete it? AND it was on Kika island, which had only a handful of people living on it in one little port on the edge. The rest of it was basically a forest.

Sorano noticed his confusion and spoke once more. "It's more of a vacation then it is a mission. She originally assigned it for me to get to know my spouse a little better before we get married. She's also sending Neji because he just returned from an A-ranked mission and she felt that this would be good for him. As for Nozomi, well it was never really fully established why she was going. Tsunade waved it off as me getting to know my future sister-in-law, but I feel like it's for a different reason."

Kankuro shrugged and leaned back into the couch while propping his right ankle up onto his left leg. "So when are you leaving?"

Sorano looked down and blushed. "Tomorrow morning...at seven o'clock."

Kankuro's eyebrows rose at how early she was supposed to meat her 'teammates'. She was definitely _not_ a morning person.

Then something hit him.

"So what are you gonna do about Gaara?"

Sorano gulped at the name and opened her mouth to reply, but as if right on cue, she heard the front door open, and looked over to see the exact person they were previously talking about, standing in the doorway.

Sorano smiled at her other brother and greeted him. "Welcome home Gaara."

Gaara noticed his sister and Kankuro sitting on the couch and simply nodded back to his sister before closing the door behind him and walking towards a chair on the other side of the coffee table.

The three stayed quiet for a while. When he noticed the awkward silence lingering between them, he spoke. "What are you two not telling me?"

Sorano blushed slightly at being caught. Her siblings were always able to read her like a book. She knew that it was probably a good thing, but she hated it.

"It's nothing." Wanting to avoid this conversation for right now, she stood up, stretched, and faked a yawn. "Well, that trip really wore me out, so I think I'm gonna go take a nap now. I'll be up by dinner."

She then quickly dashed to the back of the house where the bedrooms were located and quickly tried to pick a random one. But she soon realized that each of the four rooms had already been equipped with furniture, just like the front of the house. They didn't look quite lived in either, but she would quickly change that. Once she found two rooms, that looked more feminine then the master bedroom and another one, she picked the closest one and closed the door behind her.

Once inside, she went to sit on her bed.

_Phew. That was a close one. If I had waited any longer to leave there, I would have been practically forced to tell him...And Kankuro sure wouldn't have been of any help..._

Then her eyes widened.

_Oh no...Kankuro...He's gonna-_

"SORANO!"

Said girl groaned and leaned back against her pillow. _Oh great..._

She then heard her door slam open and looked up to see Gaara, standing next to a Kankuro covered in 'sand coffin'.

Sorano sweat dropped at this. For an emotionless man, Gaara could be so over-dramatic.

"Gaara, put him down. He's probably already spilled everything by now, so there's no need to threaten him anymore."

Gaara simply glared at his younger sibling and tightened his hold on Kankuro, making him wince in slight pain.

Sorano glared right back and said in an authoritative voice, "Sabaku no Sorano, put him down this instant."

Gaara growled slightly before releasing his hold on Kankuro, making him drop to the ground in a heap.

Sorano rolled her eyes as she watched Gaara step over the unconscious man and close the door to her room behind him.

Great. Now she was in a room alone with him.

Just peachy.

Gaara went to sit cross legged on her bed, across from her. "And just when exactly were you planning on telling me about this 'mission'.

Sorano looked at him innocently. "I was gonna tell you. It had just slipped my mind."

Gaara gave her a look. "Bull."

Sighing, she looked down and asked, "How much do you know?"

Gaara crossed his arms. "Well Kankuro couldn't really tell me much since the sand coffin was choking him, but he did manage to get out the words, 'Sorano', 'mission', and 'two weeks'."

Sorano glared at her brother for the first part of his sentence, before sighing in defeat. _Geez, here we go again...I'm really getting tired of explaining this mission over and over..._

Sorano took a few minutes to tell him the details of the mission. She told him about how it would be more of a vacation than anything. But this didn't seem to sway him from worrying about the fact that she'd be gone for two weeks. And in a totally different country at that. On a private island.

Sighing, Sorano moved over to sit next to her brother. She then smiled up at him, making his lip twitch slightly.

That was his version of a smile. A mouth twitch. She had never seen one, and knew that no one else probably ever had either. But she hoped that one day she'd be able to see one.

Sighing, she leaned against his shoulder. She frowned a little when she realized that he didn't move to make her more comfortable like he usually did. He simply sat there. And she could tell that he was very tense.

"Gaara, I know that you're worried about me and care for my well-being, but you're gonna have to trust me on this. I'm sixteen. I turn seventeen June 30. That's in exactly a month. I'm not a little academy student anymore. I'm not a Genin. Hell, I'm not even a Chuunin anymore. I'm a skilled Jounin. And I've earned this rank by proving that I'm perfectly capable of handling dangerous situations. I know that I may not be the most experienced Jounin, but that's only because you're always keeping me from going out on missions that you think I'll even get a little scratch on. You need to let go Gaara. I'm getting married for God's sake! I'm not a kid."

Gaara simply sat there and took in everything she had been saying. He didn't moved or say anything in response, but she knew that he was listening. He always listened to her when she spoke, whether he acknowledged it or not.

And she knew that he was being affected by every word. The more that came out of her mouth, the tenser her got. She felt like he was a coil, being wound tighter and tighter, which would eventually result in it snapping.

She definitely didn't want that, because she knew that if he did snap on her, it wouldn't end very well. So she decided to end her lecture at that, and let him think about everything she had said.

She loved her brother, and it was times when he acted like this that she knew that he loved her too. But he really did need to let go. She was a Jounin. She wasn't a baby anymore. She didn't need looking after. And he needed to know that. He never listened to her whenever she'd give him hints that she wanted harder missions or better training partners. And now that she finally had his complete and utter attention, she was going to take advantage of it.

Gaara was still tense for about five minutes as he dwelt on everything she had previously said. Of course he knew that she wasn't a child any more. He'd known that ever since she became a Jounin at the mere age of fourteen. She was perfectly capable of holding her own. But he never wanted to admit that. And frankly, he was scared.

Yes. Sabaku no Gaara was afraid.

He was afraid that one day, he'd send her on a mission that would be too much for her to handle, and because of this mistake, he would never see his beloved sister again.

The thought terrified him.

And with Akastuki still running around out there, he most definitely didn't like the thought of her being outside of the village on her own, so he'd always send two or more people with her on her squad.

But this needed to stop. He needed to finally acknowledge her as a young woman. Not a little girl. She was his baby sister, but that didn't mean that she was still a baby.

Sighing, he turned so that she laid more comfortably on his shoulder. Sorano smiled to herself. That was a sign that he had finally finished thinking and had given in. He was going to finally start treating her like an adult.

She then relaxed into him and sighed in content. Things were actually going how she wanted for once.

Gaara felt her relax and spoke, "Don't get all excited and think you've won. I still don't approve of this...'mission', but I do understand what you're saying. Maybe I have been a little over-protective of you. I've been letting the fact that you're my little sister hinder me from letting you grow up. And I apologize. I'll try my best to start to treat you as a young woman from now on." He felt Sorano relax even more. "But I still have some ground rules."

Sorano groaned.

There was always a catch with Gaara.

"No S-rank. At least, no time soon." Well that was a given. She would need a lot more experience as a Jounin before she was ready for that kind of mission. Those were usually missions that dealt with Akatsuki, so she'd be able to hold off a little longer before doing one of those. "No A-rank missions unless you are with at least a three man team." Her and two other people. She could deal with that. "And no ANBU."

Sorano frowned at this. No ANBU? But she wanted to take her skills to a whole other level than just Jounin. This wasn't fair.

Sitting up, she regarded her brother, and was about to complain, but all words that were about to be said slipped off her tongue when she looked into his eyes.

Although his face showed absolutely no expression, she could see his real emotions in his eyes.

They were hurt and torn, and she knew why. He was letting his little sister grow up. He'd always thought of her as a fragile baby doll, that could easily be broken by the slightest touch. He'd probably still spoon feed her if she'd let him.

But now he was letting her off the leash. He was giving her freedom. Not completely, but it was still a lot compared to what he had given her in the past 16 years.

She just couldn't ask for more. He was already putting so much pain on his heart by letting her go this much. She could deal with staying a Jounin a little longer than she had wanted. She just didn't want to put him through anymore turmoil.

Smiling softly, she leaned in to wrap her arms around him. Gaara looked down at his sister in surprise. She always leaned on his shoulders when she was tired, and once in a while she'd give him a quick hug if she got something she wanted, but she had never truly embraced him. And held on.

"Thank you Gaara-niisan. You have no idea how much this means to me. And I know that it's probably hard for you to do, so I'm even more grateful. You've always been such a wonderful brother to me, and I love you for that. I hope that I can one day make you proud of me with my skills and abilities."

Gaara's eyes softened, and since he knew that she couldn't see, he let a small smile escape his lips. He then brought his arms up to wrap them around his younger sister.

_I already am proud of you...Very proud..._

The two held on to each other for a bit longer before Gaara could hear Sorano giggle softly.

He leaned back, letting go of the embrace they had previously shared. He watched as she giggled once more before finally asking what she had found so amusing.

Sorano looked up at him with a smile. "It's nothing. I just remembered what I had seen earlier this morning. There were two people running by Shikamaru and I. One was a boy and he looked to be chasing the girl we had met earlier, Sakura." She giggled once more before continuing. "And the funny thing is, the boy almost looked like you."

Gaara's eyes widened at this. _Uh oh..._

He then quickly stood and told her, "Well that's pretty amusing, and I'd love to sit and listen, but I think I should go check and see if Kankuro is ok from the abuse I inflicted upon him earlier."

Sorano's eyes widened. He _never _cared about the well-being of his brother after he finished putting him in his place. So that must mean...

"Oh my God! It _was _you!"

Gaara blushed lightly and crossed his arms while turning his head to the side. He was _not _going to be humiliated. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, if you don't mind, I have an injured brother to attend to."

He then turned and began to walk towards her door. He grabbed onto the doorknob but hesitated. He then turned to look back at her over his shoulder. "Get some rest. You'll need as much of your chakra replenished as you can for the trip tomorrow...And if you don't mind...could we keep the whole incident that you saw earlier a secret. Especially from Temari and Kankuro."

Sorano giggled. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Gaara nodded before turning, opening the door, stepping out, and closing the door once more behind him.

Sighing, Sorano slumped back onto her bed once more.

She'd done it.

She'd stood up to Gaara.

And he'd listened.

Today was turning out to be a good day.

She let a few more thoughts cross her mind, dealing with the marriage, the mission, and her family, before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Cloud gazing.

It had always been his favorite thing to do.

It would always be his favorite thing to do.

It calmed him and was the one thing that didn't make him strain his brain or stress. Everything else in his life was just so confusing.

Women.

Missions.

Marriage.

Family.

Friends.

Every single one of these things were just so complex, and were practically impossible to fully comprehend. Especially when you tried to get right down to the core of each one. Right down to the root. Why were women so troublesome? What was the point of sending certain people on certain missions when there were possibly plenty of other ninja available at the same point in time? Why was marriage such a big deal to females? Why did family always seem to know you more than you knew yourself? And what was the point in making bonds with people when they usually end in pain?

These were only a handful of things that were incomprehensible to the world.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander.

And for some strange reason, he just so happened to wander to Sabaku no Sorano.

Soon to be Nara Sorano.

This was just so strange for him. Things just seemed to be moving in slow motion, yet too fast for him to keep up. He wasn't ready for marriage yet. I mean, sure he was eighteen and was two years over the age of legal marriage. But, he was still just a kid. Most shinobi waited until they were in their mid twenties before even thinking about marriage. So much could happen to him between now and then. He could be sent on a mission and be killed, leaving Sorano a lonely widow and breaking ties once again with Suna.

Sighing, he tried to get his mind off the marriage. He needed to stop thinking about that. It made his brain hurt.

Women in general made his brain hurt.

Sighing, he let his mind wander once more.

But before it could fully land on something to ponder, he sensed a familiar chakra nearby.

Opening one eye, he looked over to see his younger sister standing on the other side of the secluded training field. He closed his eye once more and waved a hand for her to come over and sit with him.

Nozomi smiled before quickly running over to her older brother and plopping down to lay on the grass beside him, arms extended to the sides.

"Hey sleepy-head. I'm surprised you're not at home in bed."

Shikamaru smirked. "Hn. You're one to talk. When did you finally wake up anyways?"

Sorano smiled and closed her eyes. "About a half hour ago. Nobody was home since dad's still out on his mission and mom was apparently grocery shopping. So I decided to get out for a bit."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding before everything got quiet once more.

Nara Nozomi.

Chuunin of Konoha.

His little sister.

She was quite a handful when riled up, but it was times like these when Shikamaru felt like he could tolerate her. She was more relaxed and nothing provoked her when it came to cloud gazing. She was more like him.

This was the Nara side of her that people rarely got to see.

But when she was provoked, she was the total opposite. She was her mother's daughter.

Something people don't generally want to come across.

She was a Chuunin, sure. But her ability and skill-level were probably that of an experienced Jounin. She just needed the potential and something to urge her on. But other then that, she was a pretty cool kid. He was actually proud to call her his younger sister. She got traits from both their mother and father. She was got her smarts and her ability to come up with strategies in dire situations, almost as fast as Shikamaru, from Shikaku, and she got the spunk, stubbornness, and will-power from Yoshino.

She was a pretty good mix of their parents genes.

Sighing, he opened his eyes once more to look at the placement of the sun. It was nearing sunset, meaning they should probably start heading home about now. If they were late for dinner, they would never hear the end of it from their mother.

Standing up, Shikamaru stretched and yawned before giving his younger sister a small kick in the side, making her wince and glare up at him.

"Come on, we need to get home before mom has a cow."

Nozomi looked towards the setting sun before sighing and standing also.

They then quickly made a few hand seals, transporting them to their home, where an outraged mother was waiting.

* * *

The next morning, Sorano yawned as she awoke. She felt totally and completely refreshed. Looking over to her clock, she was that it was only 5:30 and figured she hadn't really been able to sleep too long because of the nap she had taken from the previous day.

This was probably why she felt so refreshed and not in her normal bad morning mood.

Yawning, Sorano moved to get out of bed. She then stood and stretched before walking over towards her door and opening it. She could sense that all three of the chakra signatures in the house were dormant and she relaxed, knowing that Gaara was still asleep.

It had been very awkward at dinner yesterday as she explained to Temari how she was going to be going on the mission today. And it was even worse when Temari had practically fallen out of her seat at Gaara's reaction.

There was none.

Temari had then constantly said how she wanted to check and make sure he was still sane, because he had been so ok with it.

Sighing, she went to the bathroom, where her outfit had been hanging over the shower to dry from being washed the previous day.

She pulled them down and quickly changed before looking in the mirror at herself.

She had never expected to be going on a mission this soon while staying in Konoha. She had packed nothing but her pajamas, some weapons, an extra pair of sandals, and an extra bra and underwear.

She was going to go shopping the next day after she had arrived in the village. Her and Temari both.

But now what was she going to do?

Maybe she could buy some clothing when they arrived to their destination. Besides, her clothes had just been washed. And she wasn't going to be fighting in them anytime soon, unless they came across some random bandits on the way, but they would probably be nothing to worry about. Three Jounin and a Chuunin could take them on. It would just be like squishing some annoying bugs.

Sorano then went about with brushing her teeth and hair before washing her face. Once she dubbed herself suitable, she opened the door to the bathroom and walked out. She then noticed that there were only two chakra signatures laying dormant, while one was in the kitchen doing something.

As she focused more on the chakra signature, she came to realize that it was her older sister. Smiling, she sniffed the air and smelled the delicious scent of bacon. She then quickly made her way to that part of the house and looked in the doorway, only to find Temari's back turned to her.

"Good morning Sorano. Would you like something to eat before you head out?"

She turned to see Sorano nod eagerly before laughing and mumbling an 'ok'.

She finished making about ten pieces of bacon before stacking them onto a plate and handing them over to her sister.

"Eat up. It's going to be a long trip and I don't want you passing out from malnutrition."

Sorano nodded once more in understanding before saying, "Itadakimasu."

She then began quickly scarfing down all of the crunchy goodness that she had been served.

Temari laughed at her before turning around to make five more for herself. "Geez, if I knew you were gonna be this hungry, I would have had a full course meal waiting for you."

Sorano blushed as she nibbled on her last piece of bacon. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little nervous about this mission. I mean, I've never been away from you all for such a long time period. I'm really going to miss you. Well, you and Gaara at least."

Temari let out a hearty laugh at the last thing she had said and shook her head. "Well we're all going to miss you too. But just remember, Gaara's expecting to see you back in this house in exactly two week's time. If you're not here the exact day he expects you to be, he's going to come after you himself."

Sorano nodded. She knew that. And she had promised him that she would most definitely be back home by two weeks time. No sooner, no later.

Sighing, she looked at a nearby clock that had been propped up against the wall, on the counter. Apparently, nobody had found time in their schedules to hang it yet.

She almost choked on her last piece of pork when she saw that it was already 6:54.

_Oh that's just wonderful!_

She then quickly made her way back to the bathroom to grab her pajamas, and then back into her room to throw them into her pack, along with the rest of the things she had never come around to unpacking.

Once she looked around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she ran out of her room and into the kitchen to give her sister a kiss on the cheek, thanking her for the breakfast.

She then ran out the front door, slamming it behind her. Temari smiled slightly. She then moved the five pieces of bacon from the pan and put them onto her own plate.

"You can go watch her leave now Gaara."

The dormant chakra that had been lying on the other side of the house quickly vanished and she felt a chakra signature appear practically out of nowhere from behind her.

"How did you know?"

Temari snorted. "Please, since when do you sleep past 5?" She then turned off the stove and turned to look at her little brother. "So are you going to watch her leave yet?"

Gaara thought about it for a moment before sighing and closing his eyes. "No. I won't. Like she said, she'll be fine. She doesn't need me to look after her anymore."

Temari gave him a sad smile. "Gaara, there's a big difference between looking after someone and saying goodbye."

Gaara looked up at his sister once more, before nodding and letting sand engulf him. She could vaguely hear him mutter a 'thank you' before he completely disappeared.

Temari shook her head and began eating her bacon. Sometimes, her family could just be so over dramatic about the smallest things.

* * *

Sorano jumped from rooftop to rooftop as fast as she could. Thankfully, she lived close enough to the gates that she would make it just in time. But that was only if she ran.

After about five minutes, she finally made it to the gates, and found Nozomi and Shikamaru waiting for her. She looked around for the other, white-eyed man, surprised that she didn't see him anywhere. He seemed like the type of person that would usually be punctual.

Oh well. It was actually only 6:59 anyways. So she figured if he was a truly punctual man, he'd show up any second now.

She then looked over to her other two teammates and noticed that Nozomi was sitting on the ground, drawing in the dirt. And Shikamaru was leaning up against the ledge of the gates, yawning.

Sorano sweat dropped. This really wasn't a mission after all. They were so lazy and tired and bored. This was most definitely going to be the most relaxing vacation she'd ever had.

Suddenly, she felt a chakra appear from behind her. Turning, she met eye-to-eye with the same white-eyed man she was thinking of a minute before.

Deciding to try and make friends with him, she put on her best smile and looked up at him. "Good morning Neji-san."

Neji gave a small nod before walking over towards the girl sitting on the ground. He stood beside her for a moment, taking in what exactly she was doing, which he came to find out was absolutely nothing.

His eye twitched when he saw a bunch of little hearts in the sand. She really was good at wasting time, wasn't she?

Sighing, he lifted his foot and nudged her in the side with it. He then began getting frustrated when she didn't even acknowledge that he was there at all.

Sighing, he lifted his foot and put it close to the back of her head, and kicked her. Hard.

"OW!" Nozomi quickly stood up and rubbed her now aching head, while glaring at Neji. "Was that really necessary?"

Neji smirked and crossed his arms. "I tried to get your attention once and it didn't work. So I decided that maybe a little aggression would be good. And look-y there. I was right."

Nozomi growled in annoyance before hitting him in the side of the arm and yelling at him, "You jerk! That actually hurt you know! Now I'm gonna be traveling, not only tired, but also with a minor concussion! Geez!"

Sorano watched the scene before her unfold. It was actually quite amusing. And if you looked over to Shikamaru, he was also looking on with slight interest. But he acted like this was an everyday thing between them.

Sorano then felt another chakra signature from behind her. But this time, it was all too familiar. She turned to look at her red-headed brother in confusion. "Gaara? What are you doing here? I thought you were still aslee-"

But before she could finish, she was caught in a tight embrace. Here eyes widened in shock.

He was hugging her! And in Public!

This wasn't her brother. It had to be some sort of genjutsu. But when he let go of her, she could tell by his eyes that it was no joke.

Finally, Gaara spoke, "Good-bye. Have a safe trip." And with that, he was engulfed in sand and gone.

Sorano blinked.

She blinked once more.

What had just happened?

Shaking her head, she smiled a little. He had his moments too she guessed.

Turning, she saw that all three of her teammates were looking at her like she was crazy. Sabaku no Gaara had just showed a sign of affection. A sign of emotion! In front of them! This wasn't something you got to see every day.

Shaking his head, Neji snapped back to reality first. "So are we all ready to go?"

When he got the approval of all three teenagers, he nodded and turned so that he was facing the gates once more.

"Alright then team. Let's move out."

And with that, they disappeared into the trees. Not once looking back. Only looking forward. Headed for their destination.

Headed for vacation.

* * *

**SnowTigerShelby has signed out.**


	6. Chapter 6

**SnowTigerShelby has signed in.

* * *

**So what now?

She was gone. For two weeks. And he was stuck here. With Temari and Kankuro.

Gaara shuddered at this thoughts. He knew what it was like to just be with the two of them. They had been on the same squad for years for God's sake. Things were always either tense or down-right annoying.

But when Sorano was with them, it always seemed more like an adventure. They seemed more like a family.

Sighing, Gaara closed his eyes and laid back. He'd transported back to their house roof after he had said his sorry excuse for a good-bye to his sister. Now, it was an hour later, and he was still laying on top of their house.

Gaara had been trying to get his mind off the thought of not seeing his sister for so long, and constantly told himself that she'd be fine. She was in good hands, and it was a very small chance that anything would end up happening to her.

Gaara then tried to let his mind wander to something. Like what he was was supposed to do to waste the day away.

He could always go and train with Lee.

Or he could go eat at Ichiraku's with Naruto.

But then another person crossed his mind.

Sakura...

Pink hair and green eyes began filling his mind.

The medic-nin had always caught his interest when he was in Konoha. Ever since he'd first met her before the Chuunin exams.

Sure, she seemed a bit annoying and weak then, always flaunting over the Uchiha and overly-abusing Naruto. But hey. They were 12 at the time. He was probably just as annoying in his own way.

But there was just something about her that had caught his eye. Underneath the preppy, weak, love-obsessed girl, he felt like there was a spunky, strong, hard-working kunoichi.

He admired her, he had to admit. After the Chuunin exams, each time he saw her, he noticed how much stronger she had gotten. And how little time it had taken her to get that much stronger.

Now, he really wanted to see what she could do. He hadn't seen her in about a year thanks to his Kazekage duties, and he was truly curious as to just how much power she had gained.

He then blushed, remembering what had happened just the day before.

He had chased her!

Around Konoha!

For a hug!

Of all things, Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of Suna, had chased a Konoha leaf kunoichi all for the sake of receiving a hug.

That was simply pathetic and out of character.

He didn't know what had gotten into him at the time. All he could think of was that he didn't want her to leave and how he wanted to simply spend more time with her.

Well he spent more time with her alright.

He smacked himself in the face, remembering how he had finally caught her and pinned her down in one of the training grounds. She was far too tired to put up a fight, so she had simply laid there beneath him, looking up at him with those magnificent emerald eyes.

Gaara groaned and tried to erase the memory from his head, but it continued instead to where he had noticed two other people were in the same training field.

When he had looked over his shoulder to see who it was, he had wanted to just commit suicide right then and there.

The all famous green spandex-wearing Jounin and his look alike student had been standing behind them, watching the whole thing.

They had been practicing their Ninjustu on one another, when suddenly they had seen a pink and red blob come out of nowhere and land right in the middle of their training area.

Gaara had quickly stood and bent to help the girl also, before clearing his throat and closing his eyes, knowing that his face was probably red as a cherry by now.

He'd quickly said his goodbye before vanishing into his sand.

Gaara groaned and rubbed his face with his hand. He had been such a coward. And such an idiot. All of that drama and ruckus, for a hug.

It was unreal. Especially coming from him. So why had he done it.

Then again, he always seemed to act a little out of character when approached by the pink-haired beauty.

Yes, he had referred to her as beautiful. But come on. Even the emotionless Gaara could recognize beauty in a woman. Sorano was beautiful. But her beauty didn't quite affect him as Sakura's did.

She made his mouth go dry and his whole body feel weak. She made his mind go blank and his palms sweaty.

What was it about this woman that made him feel like such a weakling. He knew that beauty alone did not do this to the average human, and he demanded to know why she was able to affect him so.

Standing, Gaara made up his mind and decided that he knew what he was going to do today.

He was going to see Sakura again. Not only because he wanted to. But because he had to. He needed a medic to find out what was wrong with him. And how better to turn to then the person that was causing the symptoms in the first place.

He let sand engulf him, transporting him to the one place he knew he would probably find her.

Where there was ramen, there was Naruto.

And where there was Naruto, there was bound to be Sakura.

* * *

They had been traveling for about six hours now. They were now stopping by a stream to refill their canteens, knowing that they probably wouldn't reach a village for about another seven or eight hours.

While the four-man team had been filling their canteens, Neji had excused himself for a few minutes, before walking deeper into the woods, privately taking care of whatever business he needed to. He had already finished filling his canteens, not having brought many with him in the first place. He never drank that much water anyways.

Great. He had just left her alone. With her soon-to-be new family.

Nobody had said much the entire trip, not counting the occasional side comments by Nozomi, such as 'How much longer until we get there?' and 'I'm hungry.'

She wasn't as obnoxious and crazy as she'd expected her to be. It was actually kind of strange how alike she and her brother were.

Shikamaru has just finished filling his canteens of the clear, cool water, and suddenly felt a pair of eyes on him. Looking up, he noticed Sorano staring at him and his sister next to him. She had seemed to be lost in thought as she simply continued staring. He wondered what she was thinking about.

As he continued to stare at her, she took in her appearance. She was very pretty. He just couldn't seem to get over that fact. She was most definitely prettier than any girl he had planned on ending up with in the future.

Sighing, he finished screwing the cap onto his last canteen before throwing it, along with his others, back into his traveling pack.

Sorano came back to reality once she noticed him and Nozomi finishing up with their canteens. Looking down at her canteens, she sweat dropped when she saw that she had only done two so far.

Geez, she really needed to stop getting so distracted all the time. It was one of her weaknesses and she didn't know why. Her three siblings were so good at staying focused on whatever they were doing.

She, on the other hand, was a totally different story.

Nozomi looked once she had finished putting away her canteens, and saw that Sorano was still trying to finish hers. Standing up, she punched Shikamaru in the arm.

"Ouch!" He grabbed his now pained arm and glared at his sister. "What the hell was that for?"

Nozomi glared back at him. "You know, for a genius, you sure are dumb. Can't you see that your wife is over there struggling to hurry and finish filling her canteens?"

Shikamaru never let up on his glare. "_Future-_wife." He tried to defend himself.

He received an eye roll. "Whatever. You know what I meant. Now go over there and help her. This could be a great chance for you two to bond, you know?"

Shikamaru sighed and let his hand fall from his still aching arm. He looked over to the girl they were talking about. He wanted to help her. And he really wanted to learn more about her. But what was he supposed to say to her? How would they start a conversation?

He then turned back to his sibling. "And what exactly am I supposed to say to her when I go over there?"

Nozomi shrugged. "I don't know. She's _your _future-spouse. You should be able to think of something. Just wing it."

Shikamaru continued to stare at Nozomi. She really was absolutely no help to him.

Turning back around, he took a deep breath before walking over to Sorano, deciding to take his sister's advice and 'just wing it'.

Sorano had finished closing the second canteen she had filled before reaching down to pick up another one of the three she had left. She then heard someone clear their throat, and by the sound of it, this 'someone' was very close to her. She looked up and saw that it was Shikamaru. He seemed a little tense and she didn't know why, but she simply shrugged it off as him just being tired from traveling for six hours straight.

She gave him a small polite smile. "Is there something you needed Shikamaru-san?"

Shikamaru gulped, but made sure that it went unnoticed by her. God, why was he getting so worked up? He was just going to see if she needed help with her canteens. That was it! So then what the hell was wrong with him?

He inhaled deeply before exhaling. He needed to calm down. He then put on a cool face and tried to act bored.

"I saw that you were still struggling with your canteens. I was wondering if you needed any help with them or not." There. He'd finally gotten it out. Now she just needed to reply.

Sorano's smile widened slightly, making his heart skip a beat. "That would be wonderful. Thanks."

Shikamaru nodded before crouching down next to her and picking up one of the two canteens between them. The two then began to fill their items with water, neither knowing how to strike up a conversation.

Sorano took a deep breath. _Come on girl, here's your chance. You might finally be able to learn a little bit more about this girl. Let's go off something we already know about him...Um...Ah! I know!_

Sorano turned to look at the man next to her and opened her mouth to speak. "So, I heard that you beat my sister years ago in the Chuunin exams. Is that true?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment before remembering what she meant and smirking slightly. "Heh. Oh that? Well I didn't exactly beat her. To tell you the truth, I was actually the one the had forfeited the match."

Sorano looked at him in confusion. "Huh? But Kankuro said that you had totally had her beat."

Shikamaru shrugged and began scratching the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding the canteen under the water. "Well, you had to be there to have understood. I had caught her in my special possession jutsu, which disables my opponent from making any movement. But I didn't feel like trying to think of a way to knock her unconscious, so I simply quick the match altogether."

She stared at him in shock. No. She didn't get it. Why would he have given up the chances of becoming a Chuunin just so that he wouldn't have to think of one little strategy to knock someone unconscious. Was he really that lazy, or was he just really dumb?

Well she doubted that the second one was true, based on what she's heard about him from her family. So she decided to simply label him as 'lazy as hell'.

Shaking her head, she went back to her canteen which was beginning to get full. "So you're saying that you gave up becoming a Chuunin just so that you could relieve your brain some?"

Shikamaru smirked. "I never said that I gave up becoming a Chuunin."

Sorano looked up at him in confusion. "Huh?"

Shikamaru pulled his canteen up from the water and began screwing the top onto it. He then set it on the ground next to the other filled one's, before looking back up at the girl. "I said, I never said that I gave up becoming a Chuunin. I still became a Chuunin that year."

Sorano's eye widened. He had? But he had lost the match. Technically at least. And Gaara and Temari hadn't become Chuunin until the next year. So how was that possible?

Shikamaru saw her confusion, and continued. "The point of the Chuunin exams is not to beat your opponent. It's to prove yourself worthy of being a Chuunin. You need to prove that you can think quickly in life or death situations. You need to not only have good physical skills and abilities, but also good mental skills and abilities also. And that's what I did. I proved to the Chuunin exam proctors and the Hokage that I was perfectly capable."

Sorano stared at the man in awe. He really was wise. She had always thought that the exams had been about proving yourself as stronger than your opponent. But she had never looked so deep into them like that. She doubt that anyone did. But maybe that was a good thing. If everyone knew the secret behind the exams, then almost everyone that entered would probably become Chuunins, seeing as they would all know what exactly the kages wanted out of them.

She then shook her head. Her brain was starting to hurt. Something about this man always made her want to think so much. It was like the thought of him made her want to excel her brain to knew levels. She wondered why.

She then lifted her canteen out of the water, realizing that it had been full for a while now. After screwing the top back onto it, she looked back up at Shikamaru, who was still looking down at her. She blushed slightly but never took her gaze away from him, not wanting to seem rude. "Well you seem like a very strong and wise man. I'm glad they didn't stick me with some weak idiot." Shikamaru chuckled at this, and Sorano smiled a little.

"Nah. I'm not really that smart. I just repeat what I'm taught." He knew he was lying. But hey, didn't women usually like the modest men?

Sorano rolled her eyes at his modesty. It was written all over his smirk from earlier that he knew he was all that and then some. He was a genius and he knew it. He probably even reveled in it. So what was with the act now?

Shrugging it off as him trying to be a gentleman, she blindly reached to the side to pick up the final canteen. But unbeknown to her, Shikamaru had had the exact same intentions at the exact same time, thus resulting in his hand landing on top of Sorano's.

When the two felt the others hands upon theirs, they looked up at each other in shock for a couple seconds. Neither removed their hands or dared to look away from the other. They simply sat there and continued to gaze into each others eyes. Sorano's cheeks had pinkened slightly, but she refused to look away. His features fascinated her. He had a pretty thin face in general. Masculine, dark eyes above a narrow nose that led down to the most perfect set of lips she'd ever seen.

As for Shikamaru, he couldn't seem to look anywhere but into her eyes. The were light blue and seemed to entrance him. They weren't the normal, boring blue like Ino's, but they were instead a sky blue. They looked glassy, but not in a 'I'm about to cry' kind of way. It was more of a 'I'm shiny! Look at me!' kind of glassy.

The reminded him of the ocean actually. The looked like they could darken like if a storm was approaching, indicating that some negative emotions would probably be coming on soon. But that was just him guessing. He didn't really know anything about this girl, at all. So what made him think that he could already learn how to read her emotions.

The two broke out of their reverie when they heard a deep man's voice from behind them. "Please excuse me if I'm interrupting something...but we really should continue our travels if we want to get to the inn by nightfall."

The couple looked up and behind them to see a white-eyed Hyuuga staring at them. And although his facial expression showed no emotion, his eyes held a glint of amusement.

The two then looked back at each other and jumped, quickly letting go of the other's hands and mumbling 'sorry' simultaneously. Neji smirked a little at this before walking back over to his other teammate, who was glaring daggers at him. When he noticed this, and had gotten close enough to her to talk, he asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Nozomi growled and her glare got more intense before she raised a fist and knocked him upside the head with it. "You idiot!"

Neji grunted in pain and held the top of his head, where there was sure to be a lump later. "What the hell is wrong with you? What did I do?"

Nozomi pointed to where Sorano and Shikamaru were still sitting and finishing up with the last canteen. "They were having a special moment and YOU RUINED IT! Tsunade obviously sent them on this mission, not only so that they could get to know each other, but so that they wouldn't constantly be interrupted by the people in the village. But thanks to that little stunt you just pulled, I'm beginning to think that sending you on this mission with them will make it no different as them simply being in the same room as NARUTO and trying to have alone time! Seriously, how dumb can you get Hyuuga? Damn!"

Neji simply stared at her and took all of the verbal abuse she was giving him. He wasn't going to argue with her. He knew what happened when you added fire to the Nozomi-furnace. You didn't get more fire. Oh no.

You got a frickin' explosion.

He had learned that the hard way, and after that incident, he had promised himself that he wouldn't ever try to argue with her again. At least, not as long as he wanted to keep his family jewels in place.

And yes. The last time he'd argued with her, it had been that bad.

Once Nozomi was finished yelling, Neji simply stared at her as she struggled to catch her breath. "Are you finished?" He finally asked.

Nozomi breathed a few more times before glaring up at him. "For now. But trust me, you'll be hearing more about this later at the inn."

The side of Neji's mouth twitched. _I'll be looking forward to it._

Hey. What could he say? She was hot when she got all worked up. Scary, but hot.

* * *

Gaara paced in his living room. Well this was down-right strange.

She was nowhere to be found. She wasn't with Naruto at Ichiraku's, she wasn't working any shifts in the hospital today, and Tsunade hadn't assigned her on any mission as of late. So where the hell was she?

Gaara sighed and plopped onto one of the chairs.

Kankuro was out with the Inuzuka kid, training. And Temari had gone shopping a few hours ago. She said that she was only going to be getting some more clothes for her to wear while staying in Konoha, but from how long she had been gone, he figured she had been trying to but the whole frickin' marketplace.

Sighing once more, he leaned back onto the chair he had settled. He wanted to know what was wrong with him. And he was wanted something to pass the time today. But from how his morning had gone so far, neither of those would be happening anytime soon.

He then heard giggling outside of the front door and looked over just in time to watch it fly open, reveling his familiar blond-haired sister, and the all too familiar rosette that had been haunting his thoughts all morning.

He quickly sat up in seeing her. "Sakura?"

Upon hearing her name, Sakura turned to see Gaara sitting in a chair in the living room. She blushed slightly, her mind filling with what had happened the previous day, but she smiled and greeted him politely. "Hey Gaara. It nice seeing you again. Sorry about stealing Temari. She asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her, so I couldn't resist. We took a little longer than she had planned though. And we bought a hell of a lot of stuff."

Gaara noticed this as he eyed all of the bags that the two woman held. Each one looked about ready to burst, and each girl held about ten bags on each arm.

Gaara groaned to himself. He absolutely hated shopping. ESPECIALLY with Temari. She always bought way too much, and she would always try on every single thing she bought before she'd buy it. And guess who was always stuck telling her what looked good and what didn't.

Kankuro.

Because Gaara would always disappear before things got to that.

But now that she had a boyfriend, she could just take him along with her.

Gaara watched as the women began making their ways back to Temari's bedroom to put all of the items away in her closet and room, but before Sakura turned to make her way down the hall way, she looked towards Gaara, smiled, and winked. She then disappeared around the corner and into Temari's room, closing the door behind her.

Which was a good thing, because if she had stayed any longer, she would have seen that Gaara's face was ten shades darker than his hair.

* * *

**SnowTigerShelby has signed out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**SnowTigerShelby has signed in.****

* * *

**"Come on, it'll be fun! Besides, what better way to get to know one another than a game where you can't lie?"

Everyone looked at the girl in exasperation.

They four-man team had finally finished their travels for the day and eventually came across a small village with a nice little inn. It had one room vacant, with two beds. The team decided that it would be fine and took the room.

Now, the girls were sitting on one bed and Shikamaru was laying on the other while Neji leaned against a wall.

Shikamaru then spoke, "Nozomi, that's a very childish game. We haven't played it since we were kids."

Nozomi shrugged. "Well, I feel like being a child right now."

Neji coughed and mumbled, "Well you sure do act like one..."

Nozomi glared at her friend. "Shut up Hyuuga. Nobody asked you."

Sorano watched this. There was something about those two that just seemed different. It was almost like Neji tried to get under Nozomi's skin. And it was almost as if Nozomi liked it and hated it all at once.

Nozomi noticed the girl staring at her and turned to smile at her. "So, what do you think? Do you want to play?"

Truth or Dare. It seemed pretty harmless, seeing as she was with two very professional Jounin and a pretty cool Chuunin. After thinking about it for a moment, she gave back a small smile and replied, "Sure. Sounds like fun."

Shikamaru looked over at Sorano with an eyebrow raised. She had agreed to play? Did she not know how personal the game got? Especially when Nozomi was one of the people playing it?

Sighing, he sat up and decided that it couldn't really hurt. If things got too bad, he could always just drop out of the game. "Alright, fine. I'm in too."

Everyone looked at him in shock, but Nozomi quickly grinned in victory. "Good. So it's official. We're all playing."

Neji looked over to her. "I never said that I was playing."

Nozomi waved his comment off. "Whatever, nobody asked you." She then glared at him. "We're telling you. Now come and sit down next to Shikamaru so we can start. "

Sighing, Neji did as he was told and sat next to his friend on his bed.

Sorano smiled to herself. He was so whipped.

Nozomi grinned again before talking. "Alright, let's start!"

Shikamaru held up his hand. "Wait a minute. Before we do, we should establish some ground rules."

Nozomi groaned, but let him continue.

"No nudity, intoxication, or use of chakra can be involved. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, before he continued. "Good. Alright, let's hurry up and get through this." He then moved the table that separated the beds closer, so it was directly in the middle of all of them. He then pulled out a kunai and set it in the middle. "Alright, we'll go clockwise. Got it?"

Everyone nodded once more before Nozomi reached out for the first to spin. The kunai spun multiple times on the table before it landed on her first victim.

Sorano.

* * *

Gaara laid on the roof of the house, just as he'd done earlier that day.

Sakura was spending the night with Temari and was probably already asleep by now.

_Argh! Stop this right now Gaara. What the hell has been wrong with you? Ever since we've gotten here it's been Sakura this and Sakura that. You need to stop thinking about her. Think about something else, like...blood!_

Gaara smirked. He hadn't thought about that in a while. His blood lust and urge to kill had been controlled immensely by now, but he still thought about it every once in a while_. _But he couldn't help it. He used to be the demon container for one of the most blood thirsty demons of all time.

Sighing, he thought back to when Naruto and his team had come to rescue him. And how Lady Chiyo had given her life up for him. And how Sakura had apparently extracted poison from his brother after he'd been taken away by Deidara.

_Damn it! Stop bringing her back up!_

He wanted kick himself. No matter how many times he knocked her out of his mind, she seemed to slither right back in again. It was ridiculous! He never thought this much about his other Konoha friends. What was so special about her?

_It's probably because she had pink hair. It makes her stand out more. Yeah, that's it..._

Gaara sighed again and closed his eyes. He really needed to get Sakura to find out what was wrong with him. And fast. He didn't know how much longer he could take before he'd...

Well what would he do if this went untreated?

Gaara wasn't able to continue his thoughts, because he then felt a very familiar presence behind him.

Opening one eye, he looked up and saw the exact person that had been haunting his thoughts ever since he'd stepped foot in Konoha.

* * *

This was pathetic. Simply pathetic.

The four teens had been playing the game for about an hour now. And so many questions had been asked. Not to mention the humiliating dares that were done.

For example, now everyone knew exactly what Shikamaru's hair looked like with two braids and pink bows at the tips. And that Sorano had a fear of sea horses.

But let's not forget the worst one of all. To put it simply, Neji plus lime green eye shadow is not a pretty sight.

And this was all thanks to the female Nara of the group. The other truths and dares had been alright when they weren't asked by Nozomi. But now, it was their turn to get her back.

Neji had spun the kunai and it had finally landed on the girl that had been lucky enough to avoid it all night. But now, her luck had run out as the group grinned, ready for payback.

Shikamaru smirked. "Well I think it's high time we got my little sister back. What do you two think?" He shifted his eyes to looked at Sorano and Neji. Neji simply smirked while Sorano grinned evilly and nodded.

Neji then turned towards Nozomi and his smirk grew. Nozomi gulped.

"Truth or dare?"

Nozomi took the safe road and chose truth, knowing that if she picked dare, she'd be scarred for life with whatever they chose.

That was when they asked the most common thing to ask in a game of truth or dare.

"Who do you like?" Neji asked.

As you looked around, each person could be seen with a different emotion across their face. Shikamaru was shocked that a question like that would have come from Neji, but he shrugged it off, wondering whether or not his sister would wind up confessing to him right then and there. Sorano looked excited, anticipating whatever answer her new found friend might give.

But Neji seemed a bit pissed. Even when he'd asked the question, he'd seemed a bit off. He was glaring at the girl, but his anger didn't exactly seem to be directed at her.

Gulping, Nozomi looked at everything but Neji. She couldn't just put her feelings out in the open like that.

And it was worse that she wanted to laugh so hard because he wasn't very intimidating with make-up.

Suddenly, Nozomi looked over to the clock on the wall and saw that it was eleven o'clock. _Perfect!_

She then faked a yawn. "Well, it's so late and I think it's high time we went to bed. So good night!"

The girl then got under her covers and hid her face under her pillow.

Neji glared slightly. Oh, she wasn't going to get away that easy. He'd find out who it was one way or another.

And then he'd kill whoever it was.

Shikamaru sighed at his sister's childishness. She needed to just say it and get it over with. He was tired of the two hiding their feelings from one another. It was pointless.

Shikamaru then felt the bed move as Neji moved to slip under the covers. "I'm going to sleep also. We need to be up early in the morning if we want to make it to Kika island at a descent hour tomorrow."

After a few minutes, his breathing began to even out, indicating that he had fallen asleep.

Shikamaru and Sorano were alone.

They looked up at each other. They didn't know what to say to each other. They barely knew each other, and yet they were going to be married. Was this how they were going to spend the rest of their lives? As strangers?

Sorano opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. Shikamaru noticed this and decided that maybe the best thing to do when trying to make someone feel comfortable around you, was to be friendly.

Shikamaru smiled at her. "You know, you don't have to be so nervous around me. I don't bite."

Sorano nodded before shifting her eyes down to look at her lap. "Ano, Shikamaru-san..."

Shikamaru looked at her and waited for her to continue. When he noticed that she wouldn't continue without encouragement, he spoke up. "What is it?"

Sorano gulped and looked up at his with a small blush. She giggled before looking back down at her lap. "Um...I was just wondering...Would you like me to help take those braids out of your hair?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he realized that he had never put his hair back into the usual high ponytail. Blushing he tried to quickly release his hair of the confining pink bows, but instead got his braids even more tangled into the bows, making his hair extremely knotted and matted. Sighing, he blushed lightly and turned his head, trying to keep his dignity as best he could.

"D...Do what you want."

Sorano smiled and giggled a bit at his new state of hair. Now it would be even harder to get the pink ribbons out.

She stood up and walked over to a chair near the window. She sat in the chair before indicating for the male to sit on the floor in front of her.

Shikamaru sweat dropped before getting up and walking over to her.

_This is really degrading towards my manhood..._

Shikamaru sat before her obediently and shifted so he sat more comfortably. He hadn't let anyone else touch his hair since he was six or seven. And that was when his mother still had to help him put it into the traditional Nara ponytail.

He tensed when he first felt her fingers touch his hair, but soon relaxed as she simply brushed her fingers through it gently, to get the tangles out.

After a while, he closed his eyes and leaned back against her legs, making her gasp in surprise. But if it bothered her, she didn't do anything about it and simply continued what she was doing.

Her touch was very soothing and it made him want to fall asleep right there, with her practically massaging his scalp.

He vaguely heard her mutter, "Geez Shikamaru-san...You really shouldn't have tried to take them out on your own. It's practically a rat's nest up here."

Shikamaru smirked at how she described his hair. He didn't care how bad it looked or how long it would take her to get the knots out. All he wanted, was for her to keep touching his head. It was relaxing and he never wanted it to stop.

But as much as he wanted to fall asleep right then and there, he willed himself not to. It would be very disrespectful to fall asleep on her like that. It was disrespectful and embarrassing.

So, to try and keep himself awake, he tried to make small talk with her.

"So...What's it like to live with your siblings? Are they pretty nice to you?"

Sorano blinked. Was he trying to have a conversation with her? Smiling, she replied, "Yeah. They're wonderful to me. Temari helps me whenever I need advise, and Gaara protects me of any dangers that may come my way. Kankuro...well he's really just there. He's usually the one that gets into trouble and teases and makes fun of me. Don't get me wrong, he's a great brother. But sometimes, he makes me think that maybe he should be the youngest sibling instead of me."

Shikamaru nodded lightly, so that he wouldn't mess up whatever miracle she was creating on his head.

"So they're pretty good siblings, huh? Well that's good. I'd have to say the same for Nozomi. She's a pretty good sister and all, but there are times when I just want to sew her mouth shut. She's smart and strong and kind-hearted, but she's also stubborn and loud-mouthed and never knows when enough is enough. But I can't seem to control her. Neither can mom or dad. Only one person can ever seem to control her emotions."

Shikamaru stayed quiet, not planning on giving his sister's secret away. It would be rude. If she wanted anyone to know, then she would tell them.

"It's Neji-san isn't it..."

Shikamaru's eyes shot open. How did she know? Did his sister really make it that obvious?

Sorano smiled as she felt Shikamaru tense. "I knew from the moment I first saw him walk into the Hokage office with her. He seems to reciprocate the feelings. Am I correct?"

Shikamaru sighed and nodded. Well she already knew, so he wasn't really revealing any of Nozomi's secrets...

"Yeah. He does. But what I don't understand is why neither of them will tell each other. What's the point of liking someone if they never know that you do. Nothing can come out of that. Geez, the human species is just so troublesome."

Sorano nodded in agreement. "I know. When two people care for each other, they should tell the other. It's not right to hold in your emotions. Especially from your loved one's."

Shikamaru smirked. She understood where he was coming from. "Exactly."

The two then got quiet and stayed silent for a while. Things had gotten awkward for some reason. Both felt slightly embarrassed. Yet neither knew why.

Sorano's fingers began to brush through his hair more hesitantly. Shikamaru noticed her slightly more choppy movements and sighed. Great. Now things were awkward...So much for the peaceful massage.

Shikamaru leaned back against her legs once more and closed his eyes. He wanted to make her more comfortable. Maybe if he complimented her. It always seemed to make women happier when they received words of praise.

"Sorano...You sure know how to use your hands..."

Sorano stopped completely. Shikamaru frowned at this. She then quickly pulled her hands out of his hair, confusing him even more.

_Now what's wrong with her?_

Shikamaru shifted so that he could see what was wrong, but once he saw her face, he became frightened.

Sorano was glaring at him with fire in her eyes and had the most infuriated expression he had ever seen. He'd only ever seen anger to this extent on Sakura's face whenever Naruto said something perverted. But why was Sorano-

_Oh shit! It was what I said! I didn't mean it like that!_

Shikamaru scooted away from the girl some, just to put a little distance between the two.

"S-Sorano, I didn't mean it like that. I simply meant that you're hands are very skilled!"

Sorano seemed to get even more angry, and Shikamaru smacked a hand over his mouth at what he'd just said. Great. Every time he said something nice to her, she got angry.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru-san..."

Shikamaru began sweating in fear. "H...hai Sorano-san?"

Sorano finally snapped and yelled, "YOU'RE DEAD!"

Shikamaru automatically panicked and bolted out of the hotel room, with an outraged Sorano right on his heels with chakra enhanced fists.

"GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERT SO I CAN RIP OFF YOUR DICK AND SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT!"

Nozomi and Neji poked their heads out the doorway in shock. Her first outburst of 'you're dead' had awoken them, but now they were utterly shocked at the demonic look in her eyes as she chased Shikamaru down the halls of the hotel.

Neji sweat dropped while Nozomi giggled when they noticed the most embarrassing part about it...

Shikamaru still had one more braid left in his hair...

* * *

Gaara laid next to Sakura as she sat beside him. They had been sitting there for a while now, neither trying to make conversation with the other. The actually enjoyed the peaceful silence. But Gaara was still bothered by the fact that his heart was pounding harder than usual. Was this a sign of a heart attack?

Concerned, he looked over towards the pink-haired beauty. "Oi...Sakura..."

Sakura looked down at the Kazekage, shocked that he had spoken. "Yes Gaara?"

Gaara looked away quickly and blushed. Why did he feel so joyful when she said his name?

"I have an ilnness of some kind. And I was wondering if you could help me out. With you being a medic and all..."

Sakura cocked her head cutely to the side, which Gaara caught in the corner of his eye, casing him to blush even darker.

But luckily, Sakura didn't notice, seeing as how it was so dark out. "What's wrong? What are the symptoms?"

Gaara thought for a moment. He didn't really know what the symptoms were. He never really got them unless he looked at her or heard her name. Deciding to try and hurry up to find out what the hell was wrong with him, Gaara looked into her eyes.

Automatically, the weird feelings began to return.

"Sweating, heart rate picking up, trembling, heated face, difficulty breathing, and an urge to do...something."

Sakura looked at him in confusion. An urge? What kind of urge? From everything he had told her, the only thing she could think of that would go hand in hand with those symptoms was pregnancy, but she HIGHLY doubted that was the case.

Sakura continued to ponder the conditions, but when she came up with nothing, she asked him another question. "What kind of urge are you having?"

Gaara thought about it, but couldn't come up with anything. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He just had the urge to do something. And whatever it was, he wanted to do it to Sakura.

"I'm...I'm not quite sure. But whatever it is, it involves you somehow." Gaara muttered.

Sakura's eyes widened. He had an urge to do something...to her? Was it a bad urge? Did he want to kill her? Did he want to hurt or torture her?

Gaara noticed the emotion that crossed her eyes. If anyone knew it, he did.

Fear.

He didn't want her to be afraid of him though. The urge wasn't to harm her. It was actually completely different. He wanted to...to touch her. In some way. But not to hurt her. He didn't know what he wanted to do to her though. Ahh! He was so confused!

Gaara growled and sat up to look her straight in the eye. "Don't you dare think for a second that I mean to hurt you or scare you. I'm not going to harm you, I promise. So please..." His tone turned slightly pleading. "Please don't look at me with those eyes..."

Sakura continued to stare at him. She knew about the childhood he had gone through. Everyone knew. Everyone feared him and looked to him as a monster. But he never thought much of it and would simply brush it off as nothing.

But things were different now.

He had friends. He had a family who finally accepted him. He had...

"Sakura..." he mumbled under his breath.

Sakura heard this and her eyes softened. He was only human. Sure he used to hold a demon within him, but that didn't make him a bad person. He was forced. It wasn't his choice.

And now, he was trying to make things right.

Sakura smiled at him, surprising him. "Gaara. You really are a good person." Gaara's eyes widened. _Good? She thinks I'm a good person?_ She continued, "You're a great Kazekage, a wonderful brother, and an amazing friend. Those that aren't lucky enough to know that can just go screw themselves."

She then reached down to lay her hand on top of his, which was lying on the roof.

Gaara looked at her like she was crazy. _She's touching me...And she's not afraid..._

Sakura finished her little speech. "But I'm glad I know you. I'm one of the lucky one's that got to really know you and I thank God for that."

Gaara continued to look at her smiling face.

He trembled.

He gulped.

His palms began to sweat.

He knew now what the urge was.

And he was going to give into it this time. No more holding back.

_Please don't hate me for this..._

Sakura's eyes widened at the next thing he did.

* * *

Sorano stormed back towards the hotel room.

She'd finally been able to catch up to Shikamaru, grab his collar, and throw him out of a window at the end of the hallway.

If she hated anything, it was perverted men that only tried to get into your pants.

Sorano blushed. _Damn that Nara. I thought he was different from all the other guys. Tch. Turns out he's just the same. I should have known._

Sorano sighed and opened the door to their room. When she opened it, she looked in shock at what was happening.

"Neji-san? Nozomi-chan? What are you two still doing up?"

The two looked up from their hands, which were now holding cards. Nozomi smiled. "We were just playing a little game of 'go fish' until you got back from killing Niisan."

Neji chuckled at this and set his cards down. "You didn't actually kill him did you? I mean, we're on the third floor. God knows what you could have done to him."

Sorano blushed and shrugged it off. "I didn't hurt him too bad. I just showed him who was gonna be boss if this 'relationship' is gonna work."

She then 'hmph'-ed before walking towards her bed and climbing under the covers. She muttered a small 'good-night' before drifting off to sleep.

Nozomi looked towards the man in front of her and he nodded before standing up and walking out of the room. Nozomi sighed and looked over to the girl under the covers.

She had just found her new idol. She truly admired this girl.

Smiling, she went over to where the Sorano was sleeping, and slipped under the sheets next to her. She yawned and turned on her side so that her back was to her. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and thought, _She is going to be a handful for Shikamaru...This should be interesting to watch._

_

* * *

_Why did stuff like this always seem to have to happen to him?

Shikamaru gulped as he hung onto the ledge of the window for dear life.

He would have easily pulled himself up, but he was too low on chakra to be able to use any strength. And he couldn't enhance his feet with any to climb up the wall.

So all he could do was dangle helplessly from the window sill. Sighing, he closed his eyes.

Maybe he could just sleep like this for the night...

"Wow. Who knew she was this much of a handful...? Even for the genius of Konoha."

Shikamaru noticed the voice above him and scoffed. "Shut it, Hyuuga. Just help me up."

Neji shrugged and leaned down to grasp his friend's hand. Once he was pulled to safety, Shikamaru stretched his now aching arms and nodded a thanks to the white-eyed man.

Neji looked at him with a sympathetic look. "You know, you can't let her do that to you the rest of your life. You need to let her know who's _really_ boss."

Shikamaru glared towards his comrade. "Yeah. Like you do with Nozomi?"

A light pink hue began developing on the Hyuuga's face. "N-Nozomi and I are different. We aren't the one's getting married."

Shikamaru smirked. "Yet..."

Neji glared. "Forget it. Fine. Do what you want. Let her push you around. But when she winds up literally chaining you up, don't come crying to me..."

He then began walking back to the hotel room with his teammate.

Shikamaru smirked slightly to himself at the last thing Neji had said.

_Chaining me up huh? I don't think that would be all that bad..._

Neji spoke up once more. "And by the way..." Shikamaru waited for him to continue.

Neji turned his head slightly to smirk at the Nara. " You might want to release your hair of that feminine object before you go to sleep tonight...I don't exactly want to think that I am going to be sleeping with a woman..."

Shikamaru cursed. He'd completely forgotten that Sorano had never finished untangling his hair. Reaching his hand up, he was able to easily slip the ribbon out, thanks to the brushing of her fingers to get the bigger knots out.

He then threw the ribbon somewhere random and turned to look at the byakugan welder. Smirking, he replied. "You're one to talk Neji-_chan. _You wear your long, feminine hair in a pony-tail every day. Not to mention how well the lime green eyeshadow really brings out the non-existent color in your eyes."

_Shit! _Neji quickly ran as fast as he could to the hotel room and went straight to the bathroom. He couldn't believe that he was still wearing this stuff! No wonder his eyes were getting so itchy and irritated.

Shikamaru laughed. He was really glad that Neji had come on this little vacation. He didn't know what he would have done if he was alone with Sorano throughout the whole thing.

Shikamaru entered the room and noticed that Neji was still in the bathroom, with the water running, muttering curses to himself.

He chuckled before looking over to the cause of both his and Neji's humiliation.

Nozomi was so evil. He didn't know where she got it from.

_...Oh yeah...mom..._

Sighing, he shifted his gaze to the girl next to her. She seemed so peaceful, laying there dormant.

She was really quite beautiful. And she seemed so gentle. But after what had just happened in the past ten minutes, he could see that she had a totally different side to her as well. A more strong, scary side.

He continued to watch the girl amusement. How could someone that looked so peaceful and innocent, be so strong and cruel. It was almost like she had a split personality like Nozomi's...only worse.

He scoffed. _Geez, what am I thinking? Why do I keep looking so deep into her personality. It's not like it really matters. I just need to watch what I say when I'm around her, and nothing like this will ever happen again. I'm sure of it._

He then walked over to his mattress and got under the covers. He then heard the bathroom door open and footsteps begin to walk over to his bed before it dipped and shifted. All became still once more and Shikamaru let out one more sigh.

_Well, at least she's hot when she's angry. I guess there's an upside to it after all..._

_

* * *

_**SnowTigerShelby has signed out.**_  
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